Hello disables comrades! I hope things are going well.

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"Disability" is an umbrella term which encompasses physical disabilities, emotional/psychiatric disabilities, neurodivergence, intellectual/developmental disabilities, sensory disabilities, invisible disabilities, and more. You do not have to have an official diagnosis to consider yourself disabled.

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  • DragonBallZinn [he/him]
    ·
    6 days ago

    I know I spoke of it before, but it looks like my ADHD is official! Now I want to speak with a healthcare professional about medication.

    It also turns out I’m double exceptional rather than I have a learning disability so it feels like I at least got a consolation prize.

    In the mean time, for anyone else in my shoes? What did you do to get out of the cycle of unemployment/underemployment?

    • Lawn_and_disorder [he/him]
      ·
      6 days ago

      I got a WFH job, easy pays well an I even got some time to do my own stuff on workhours sometimes. Makes life a lot better. Longest employment I have had so far. Getting a bit bored but looking for other positions at the same company, no problem staying at my current one until then.

      • TheSpectreOfGay [he/him, she/her]
        ·
        6 days ago

        what field do you work in? i tried finding a wfh job for like, two years, but they're so much more competitive than other positions it was impossible

        not that i have the executive function to job search rn anyway lol

        • Lawn_and_disorder [he/him]
          ·
          edit-2
          6 days ago

          Tech support, I got a degree in an unrelated field but the position was possible to get if you had experience instead as well. Worked as webdev freelance earlier but long hours and not much paid. Nice support gig with company contacts and not end customers. When I have the energy and time I may study further on the company dime as well 😃

    • roux [he/him, they/them]M
      ·
      6 days ago

      In the mean time, for anyone else in my shoes? What did you do to get out of the cycle of unemployment/underemployment?

      If you have a hobby that you can potentially turn into a profession and make your own hours, that would be a way to go. I'm trying to do that with web dev and after 4 months of nothing I might have actually scored a project with our local NAACP which could b ea pretty big deal for me and open the door for a lot of potential clientele.

      While I'm working on that I'm currently working part time at a 3rd party delivery contractor for Amazon so I have some money coming in. I'm hoping I can eventually quit this and do the website thing full time soonish. This is all after about 25 years and 30+ jobs and being unemployed more than employed during that time because no one wants to accommodate for neurodivergent people.

    • blipblip [none/use name, they/them]
      ·
      edit-2
      6 days ago

      Grats on your diagnosis! Meds aren't a magic bullet that solve all your problems but they help a hell of a lot.

      Don't get discouraged if you have a bad time with the first medication you try. My psych had me trial three different stimulants for a week each, one of them gave me chest pains even on a very low dose and didn't provide any benefits but the other two were very effective for me with much more manageable side effects.

      You can also stop and start typical ADHD meds as you need them. Taking days off when you don't need them can also help with not building up a tolerance. It's not like depression meds where you need to take them for a while everyday to see if they work for you.

      It can also go the other way though, you might experience a euphoria when you start meds, that's not something that will stick around long term so enjoy it while it's there but understand that that feeling isn't going to be your new baseline with meds long-term.